Thru the Bible - #146-Numbers 31- The Slaughter of Midian

Transcript

Welcome And Setup

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome to Marine's Corner, the podcast where we go through books of the Bible, chapter by chapter, and verse by verse. Wherever you are in the world, thank you for joining. Grab a glass of water, a cup of coffee, a tea, and let's get into today's lesson. Welcome back to Beren's Corner. Thank you all for joining me. As always, it is a pleasure to be here with you. Thank you for joining me. There's a lot of things you could be doing, but you are here going through this word of God with me, and I appreciate that very much. Open your Bible to Numbers chapter 31. The title of today's lesson is The Slaughter of Midian. Numbers 31, and let's read.

SPEAKER_00 0:54

Numbers 31. The Lord said to Moses, Take vengeance on the Midianites for the Israelites. After that, you will be gathered to your people. So Moses said to the people, Arm some of your men to go to war against the Midianites and carry out the Lord's vengeance on them. Send into battle a thousand men from each of the tribes of Israel. So twelve thousand men armed for battle, a thousand from each tribe, were supplied from the clans of Israel. Moses sent them into battle, a thousand from each tribe, along with Phanahas, son of Eliezer the priest, who took with him articles from the sanctuary and the trumpets for signaling. They fought against Midian, as the Lord commanded Moses, and killed every man. Among their victims were Evi, Rakem, Zur, Huh, and Reba, the five kings of Midian. They also killed Balaam, son of Beor, with the sword. The Israelites captured the Midianite women and children, and took all the Midianite herds, flocks and goods as plunder. They burned all the towns where the Midianites had settled, as well as their camps. They took all the plunder and spoils, including the people and animals, and brought the captives, spoils and plunder to Moses and Eliezer the priest, and the Israelite assembly at their camp on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho. Moses, Elieasar the priest, and all the leaders of the community went to meet them outside the camp. Moses was angry with the officers of the army, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds who returned from the battle. Have you allowed all the women to live? he asked them. They were the ones who followed Balaam's advice, and were the means of turning the Israelites away from the Lord in what happened at Peor, so that a plague struck the Lord's people. Now kill all the boys, and kill every woman who has slept with a man, but save for yourselves every girl who has never slept with a man. All of you who have killed anyone or touched anyone who was killed must stay outside the camp seven days. On the third and seventh day you must purify yourselves and your captives, purify every garment as well as everything made of leather, goat hair, or wood. Then Eliezer the priest said to the soldiers who had gone into battle, This is the requirement of the law that the Lord gave Moses. Gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, lead, and anything else that can withstand fire must be put through the fire, then it will be clean, but it must also be purified with the water of cleansing, and whatever cannot withstand fire must be put through that water. On the seventh day, wash your clothes, and you will be clean. Then you may come into the camp. The Lord said to Moses, You and Eliezer the priest, and the family heads of the community, are to count all the people and animals that were captured. Divide the spoils between the soldiers who took part in the battle and the rest of the community. From the soldiers who fought in the battle, set apart as tribute for the Lord, one out of every five hundred, whether persons, cattle, donkeys, sheep, or goats. Take this tribute from their half share, and give it to Eliezer the priest as the Lord's part. From the Israelites half, select one out of every fifty, whether persons, cattle, donkeys, sheep, goats, or other animals. Give them to the Levites, who are responsible for the care of the Lord's tabernacle. So Moses and Eliezer the priest did as the Lord commanded Moses. The plunder remaining from the spoils that the soldiers took was six hundred seventy-five thousand sheep, seventy-two thousand cattle, sixty-one thousand donkeys, and thirty-two thousand women who had never slept with a man. The half share of those who fought in the battle was 337,500 sheep, of which the tribute for the Lord was 675. 36,000 cattle, of which the tribute for the Lord was 72. 30,500 donkeys, of which the tribute for the Lord was sixty-one. Sixteen thousand people, of which the tribute for the Lord was thirty-two. Moses gave the tribute to Eliezer the priest as the Lord's part, as the Lord commanded Moses, the half belonging to the Israelites, which Moses set apart from that of the fighting men, the community's half, was three hundred and thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep, thirty-six thousand cattle, thirty thousand five hundred donkeys, and sixteen thousand people. From the Israelites half. Moses selected one out of every fifty persons and animals, as the Lord commanded him, and gave them to the Levites, who were responsible for the care of the Lord's tabernacle. Then the officers, who were over the units of the army, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, went to Moses and said to him, Your servants have counted the soldiers under our command, and not one is missing. So we have brought as an offering to the Lord the gold articles each of us acquired, armlets, bracelets, signet rings, earrings, and necklaces, to make atonement for ourselves before the Lord. Moses and Eliezer the priest accepted from them the gold, all the crafted articles. All the gold from the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds that Moses and Eliezer presented as a gift to the Lord weighed sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty shekels. Each soldier had taken plunder for himself. Moses and Eliezer the priests accepted the gold from the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, and brought it into the tent of meeting as a memorial for the Israelites before the Lord.

Twelve Facts Overview Begins

Kings Slain And Balaam’s End

Captives, Spoils, And Fire

Moses’ Anger Over The Women

Command To Execute And Purify

SPEAKER_01 7:17

Now, the last time we were together, we looked at the law of vows. That chapter focused on four vows the vows made by men, the vows made by single women, the vow made by married women, and the vows made by divorced or widowed women. Today we will see the wrath of God get poured out on the Midianites. Now, this will be the last battle that Moses will be involved in. We see that in verses one and two. Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Take full vengeance for the sons of Israel on the Midianites. Afterwards, you will be gathered to your people. So this is the last battle that Moses will be involved in, because the Lord is telling him after this. Remember, the Lord has already told Moses that he was going to be gathered to his people, that he was not going to be able to step foot into the promised land. But here the Lord is making it known to Moses that you're going to get out there, you're going, you guys are going to fight this battle, and then you will be gathered to your people. Then we see that Moses orders the people to arm the men. We see that in verse 3. Moses spoke to the people, saying, Arm men among you for the war, that they may go against Midian to execute the Lord's vengeance on Midian. Now there are twelve facts that we would like to look at in this chapter as we break down the rest of this chapter. Fact number one the military is gathered from the tribes of Israel. We see this in verses four through five. A thousand from each tribe. So twelve thousand men are armed and they are getting ready to go into this war against Midian. Number two, Moses sends the priests out with the military. Notice verse six. Moses sent them a thousand from each tribe to the war, and Fanahas, the son of Eliazar the priest, to the war with them, and the holy vessels and the trumpets for the alarm in his hand. So Moses also sent the priests out with the men to go to war, which brings us to number three. All the Midian kings and males are killed. We see this in verses seven through eight. So they made war against Midian, just as the Lord had commanded Moses, and they killed every male, and they killed the kings of Midian, along with the rest of their slain. Avi and Rachem and Zur and Hur and Rabbi, the five kings of Midian, they also killed Balaam, the son of Beor, with the sword. Now you all might remember a little bit earlier in Numbers, uh, our guy Balaam, and him and Balak had their thing going on. So Balaam was even killed in this slaughter that happened right here. So this is where he came to his end. Which brings us to part four. The Israelites took captive all the women and children. We see this in verses nine and ten. The sons of Israel captured the women of Midian and their little ones and all their cattle and all their flocks and all their goods. They plundered. Then they burned all their cities where they lived and all their camps with fire. So we see that they killed the men, they killed all the males, and but they took the children and the women and the cattle, and they basically took them captive. Which brings us to fact number five. The soldiers gave all the spoils with the people to Moses and Eliezer. Look at 11 and 12. And they took all the spoil and all the prey, both of man and of beast, and they brought the captives and the prey and the spoil to Moses and to Eliezer the priest and to the congregation of the sons of Israel, to the camp at the plains of Moab, which are by the Jordan opposite Jericho. So all the spoils they took a war. For those of you who may not understand what spoils are, that's everything that was taken animals, the gold, food, anything that was taken, they took all of these things and they gave them and put them at the feet of Moses. Which brings us to fact number six. Moses went out to the commanders. Verse 13. Moses and Eliezer the priests and all the leaders of the congregation went out to meet them outside the camp. After everything is over, Moses goes out to meet everyone. Fact seven, when Moses saw the women alive, he was angry. Look at verses 14 through 16. Moses was angry with the officers of the army and the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds who had come from service into the war. And Moses said to them, Have you spared all the women? That's a question. Behold, these cause the sons of Israel through the council of Balaam to trespass against the Lord in the matter of Peor, so the plague was among the congregation of the Lord. So if you were wondering why is Moses upset that they spared the women, this is the reason why. Now, if you remember when I went through Balaam and Balak, right? Remember that Balaam could not curse the people, but he did tell Balak, but you can indirectly curse them by having the women, the strange women of the land, go at them and get them to worship, uh, to go after other gods. Now, in ver back back up in verse 8, it says Balaam, the son of Beor, was killed with the sword, and down here in verses 14 through 16, we see that Moses is upset. And the reason he's upset is because these are the women that Balaam used to get to the Israelites. So Moses wanted them to take everybody out. How are you gonna kill all the males, but then you leave all the females alive that cause our men to go astray? Which brings us to fact number eight. Moses orders the execution of all the males and the non-virgin women. We see this in verse 17. Now, therefore, kill every male among the little ones and kill every woman who has known man intimately. Now, uh this verse is about the holiness of God right here. So if you wonder what's going on, this is about the holiness of God, and let's uh let me prove the point. Turn to Habakkuk. Numbers return to Habakkuk. Some of you may uh maybe may be my pages are a little sticky. Okay. Habakkuk, chapter one, and we are looking at verse 13. Habakkuk, chapter one, verse thirteen. Thine eyes are too pure to approve evil, and thou canst not look on wickedness with favor. Why dost thou look with favor on those who dw who deal treacherously? Why art thou silent when the wicked swallow up those more righteous than they? What is that? What that's talking about is that's talking about the holiness of God. You see what it says right here, thy eyes are too pure to approve evil. The Lord does not approve evil, no matter how you how you want to slice it. And when you think about the evil that those women caused, the ones that were the harlots who caused the men to go astray, the Lord was not gonna deal with that. And that proves right there the holiness of God and how he wasn't gonna deal with those things. Which brings us to fact number nine. Moses lets the girl let excuse me, Moses lets the girls who had not touched a man live. Verse 18 says, But all the girls who have not known man intimately, spare for yourself. So he's telling the men, you can have these women as wives, the virgins, you can have them as wives. Fact number 10. The disobedient soldiers had had to be purified. Verses 19 through 24 tell us this. And you camp outside the camp seven days, whoever has killed any person, and whoever has touched any slain, purify yourselves, you and your captives, on the third day and on the seventh day. You shall purify yourselves every garment and every article of leather and all the work of goat's hair and all articles of wood. Then Eliezer the priest said to the men of war who had gone to battle, this is the statue of the law which the Lord has commanded Moses. Only the gold and the silver, the bronze, the iron, the tin, and the lead, everything that can stand the fire, you shall pass through the fire, and it shall be clean. But it shall be purified with water for impurity. But whatever cannot stand the fire, you shall pass through the water, and you shall wash your clothes on the seventh day and be clean, and afterwards you may enter the camp. So this is what they had to do to uh to come into the camp. They had to be purified. Which brings us to fact number eleven the booty or spoils are given out by Moses to the people. We see this in verses 25 through 47. And let's let's look at the spoils. Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, You and Eliezer the priests, the heads of the fathers' households of the congregation, take account of the booty that was captured, both of man and of animal, and divide the booty between the warriors who went out to battle in all the congregation, and levy a tax for the Lord from the men of war who went out to battle, one in five hundred of the persons, and of the cattle, and of the donkeys and of the sheep. Take it from their half and give it to Eliezer the priest as an offering to the Lord. And from the sons of Israel, half, you shall take one drawn out of every fifty of the persons of the cattle of the donkey and of the sheep from all the animals, and give them to the Levites who keep charge of the tabernacle of the Lord. And Moses said to Eliezer the priest, uh, excuse me, they did just as the Lord commanded Moses. Now the spoil that remained from the spoil, which the men of war had plundered, was six hundred and seventy-five thousand sheep, and seventy-two thousand cattle, and sixty-one thousand donkeys, and of human beings, of women who had not known man intimately, all the persons were thirty-two thousand. And the half, the portions of these who went to war was as follows. And the Lord's levy of the sheep was six hundred and seventy-five, and the cattle were thirty-six thousand, from which the Lord's levy was seventy-two, and the donkeys were thirty thousand five hundred, from which the Lord's levy was sixty-one. And the human beings were sixteen thousand, from whom the Lord's levy was thirty-two persons. Moses gave the gate gave the levy which was the Lord's offering to Eliezer the priest, just as the Lord had commanded Moses. As for the sons of Israel's half, which Moses separated from the men who had gone to war, none of the congregation's half was, excuse me, now the congregation's half was 337,500 sheep, and 36,000 cattle, and 30,500 donkeys, and the human beings were sixteen thousand. And from the sons of Israel's half, Moses took one drone out of every fifty, both man of the animals, and gave them to the Levites, who kept charge of the tabernacle of the Lord, just as the Lord had commanded. Now, when they separated the spoils of war, they did it right to the number just as the Lord had commanded. Which brings us to fact number twelve. A special offering was given to God by the Israelites. We see this in verses 48 through 54. Then the officers who were over the thousands of the army, the captains of thousands, and the captains of hundreds approached Moses, and they said to Moses, Your servants have taken a census of men of war who are in our charge, and no man of us is missing. So we have brought as an offering to the Lord what each man found articles of gold, armlets, and bracelets, signet rings, earrings, and necklaces to make atonement for ourselves before the Lord. And Moses and Eliezer the priest took the gold from them, all kinds of wrath articles, and all the gold of the offering which they offered up to the Lord from the chasms of Thank you for hanging in there with me, and thank you for joining me. As always, I hope you guys always ask you to continue to pray for me, pray for me to say you ask in the scriptures to finish this race that we started, and I am doing the same for you as well. I appreciate you very much wherever you are in the world. I appreciate you for taking time to listen to me go through these scriptures as we learn together. Alright, that is all for Numbers chapter 31. That is all for now. Until next time. God bless. Thank you for listening to Berean's Corner. We appreciate you joining us as we dive into God's word and seek biblical truth together. If this episode encouraged or challenged you, be sure to subscribe, share, and leave a review on your favorite podcast platform. You can find Berean's Corner on BuzzSprout, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart, Amazon Music, and more. Let's stay connected. If you have questions, comments, or prayer requests, reach out to us at BereansCorner.buzzprout.com where you can follow along with show transcripts and leave a message in the fan mail slot. Also follow us on YouTube at Berean's Corner and don't forget to subscribe. We'd love to hear from you. Until next time, keep searching the scriptures like a Berean. Stay discerning, stay faithful, and God bless you.